Someone passing through Studio #7 during last month’s 2nd Saturday at Arthouse was kind enough to tell me that my work reminded them of William Garnett’s photography. So of course, when I got home, I had to look him up because I had never heard of him. He is credited with being the first photographer to use aerial imagery as an art form rather than for more practical endeavors such as surveying or mapping. It was immediately apparent that we shared a strong tie to aviation. He was a trained photographer when he hitched a ride home to California from the east coast at the end of WWII in the navigators’ seat of a C-54 military transport. The visuals on the trip made such an impression on him that when he got home, he used his VA benefits to get his pilot’s certificate, eventually bought a 1955 Cessna 170B and spent most of the rest of his life creating some stunning aerial imagery. I would have loved to have met him. Ansel Adams wrote in his introduction to Garnett’s book The Extraordinary Landscape, “His control of his airplane, of the camera mechanisms, and of the subtleties of exposure is profound.”
As a pilot, I have respect for his being able to fly the aircraft and at the same time take meaningful photographs by hand with no image stabilization or any of the other helpful stuff that modern cameras have. I’ve tried it and it’s difficult. But that respect pales in comparison to the respect for the imagery itself. All this left me feeling quite flattered by the comparison. Wish I could remember the name of the person who told me about William Garnett. If you are that person and you see this, please get in touch. I’d like to thank you.
Here’s a small sample of Garnett’s work, which of course looks better in a larger format -
If you are curious about Garnett’s work, I’ll have a copy of his book The Extraordinary Landscape with me at ARTHOUSE Studio #7 for this month’s 2nd Saturday - Nov. 11 5-8:00pm. Come take a look.
Meanwhile Back In The Studio -
For me, the large format work of applying paint on canvas is the most enjoyable part of the whole creative process. Most of the process is just doing something else that has to be done in order to get to the fun stuff. Flying is like that too. I’ve finally gotten to the fun part of the latest canvas. So far it has gone fairly well. It was a tough negotiation, but I was able to get Fred the cat to agree not to leave a pawprint in any wet paint.
More later…..